ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces on Sunday announced the arrest of two gunmen who targeted a branch of popular fast food restaurant KFC in Baghdad by throwing a homemade “explosive device” at the front door. A KFC restaurant branch in Baghdad’s Palestine Street was targeted on Saturday night by two suspects on a motorcycle who “threw a homemade explosive device,” Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement. “After following the surveillance cameras and tracking down the perpetrators, their identities were revealed and they were caught and arrested,” the statement said, adding that their pistols were also confiscated. The attack resulted in material damage to the entrance of the restaurant. A world-renowned American fried chicken chain, KFC is among a number of Western brands that have been subject to boycott calls over their alleged links to Israel, with boycotts in the Muslim world particularly slashing the earnings of many popular chains including McDonald’s and Starbucks. The boycotts are in response to Israel’s deadly military campaign against the Gaza Strip which has killed over 35,700, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s campaign was in retaliation to a large-scale incursion into southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants based in Gaza, which killed over 1,170. Iraq is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has on several occasions condemned the lack of global support for justice for Palestinians. KFC also has several branches in the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil, and an additional branch in Duhok city.
